Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Holy Light Will Shine Upon You (4)

Margaret finally finished her work at the cafeteria. After giving her apron a simple wash, she hurriedly jogged all the way toward the School of Theology.

She had been born into a family of believers, and both of her parents were staunch members of the Holy Father Sect. Naturally, this had influenced Margaret’s faith in Holy Father. But ever since the conflict between the Holy Son and Holy Father factions had begun to appear, Margaret could not help developing a few doubts about her own faith.

Clearly, no matter whether it was Holy Son or Holy Father, the direction in which they taught the world was ultimately the same. Why would conflict arise because of something like that instead?

Fortunately, such conflict was not especially prominent in the Theology Department. Besides, this was a mage academy, so debates of faith always had to give way to spell research. There were even quite a few priests here who secretly believed that the deity had bestowed aether upon humanity, but magic was something humanity itself had developed and carried forward.

However, today’s courses had nothing to do with any of that. After morning prayer ended, the day at the School of Theology had only just begun.

As a lower-year student, Margaret’s main subjects were theology and Church history, Holy Church Ethics, interpretation of the creation history texts, and various light-element spells. Among them, medical spells occupied the largest portion.

The pastor standing behind the lectern spoke eloquently. “Although all the major elements outside of light-element spells possess their own wound-healing spells, why is it that only light-element spells are called medical spells? This is a very simple point of knowledge. I believe all of you should have learned it long ago—Margaret, answer this.”

Margaret stood up calmly. “Yes. Aside from the light attribute, the healing spells of each element merely prevent wounds from worsening without addressing the root cause. Fire element uses high temperatures to seal and disinfect wounds. Water element can only provide nourishment. Although the earth element can increase the speed at which wounds heal, its efficiency is too low. Only light-element spells can immediately eliminate the damage caused by external and internal injuries—because this is the power Holy Father bestowed upon us.”

“Very good, but there are still a few omissions.” The pastor smiled and gestured for Margaret to sit. “Just as this young sister mentioned, our spells place greater emphasis on healing wounds, because Holy Father loves all people equally. Harming the bodies bestowed by Holy Father is something we cannot permit—but we have no right to deliver judgment upon our enemies in Holy Father’s place. Holy Son, however, gave us a way to heal our brothers and sisters...”

Margaret listened earnestly.

Pastors differed in their understanding of the Holy Scripture of Creation, but only the commandment “love Holy Father, love all people” was recognized by every pastor, every bishop, and every brother and sister.

“Holy Father created the world, and He exists independently and distinctly from the world. Holy Father is rational, and so we must inevitably learn and study the world we live in through a rational process.” The pastor traced a cross before his chest, then opened his eyes, his gentle gaze falling upon the apprentices. “Before Holy Father, you must always remain humble and kind.”

“Of course, Holy Father does not wish us to act only after we have been attacked. When necessary, we must still launch preemptive attacks. We cannot allow the enemy any opportunity to attack us. In Holy Father’s name, may the anointing of joy be poured upon us, and may heavenly power and peace be bestowed upon us. Therefore, offensive magic still has a place within the light attribute.”

“This is what we will learn today: holy light offensive spells.”

“The principle is actually very simple. As long as you train your strength and increase your stamina, you will be able to release the strongest Holy Light Spell.” After saying this joke with a perfectly serious face, the pastor paused, then spoke again in satisfaction. “You see? I saw quite a few brothers and sisters smile. I believe many of you know the joke Mage Gandalf once made. Of course, even now, many people still believe that the Church’s holy knights were born because of that very joke.”

Seeing the atmosphere in the classroom relax, the pastor continued, “Of course, many students will become pastors after graduation and enter the continent’s wars under that identity. Although, at the Holy Church’s proposal, the nations of the continent have largely achieved peace with one another, there are still many underdeveloped countries affected by war in this world that need our help. In those places, not every warrior or mage will protect themselves properly and then protect the pastor in their team, so possessing a strong physique is also quite important. The first lesson in offensive spells is the Holy Light Spell. This spell aims to release the light attribute into the surrounding air in an instant, disrupting the aether in that area. Under the brief protection of the light element, a pastor can calmly leave danger.”

“The major premise of this tactic is that you must be able to run.”

Another ripple of soft laughter came from the classroom. Even the serious Margaret could not help revealing a faint smile. The apprentices seemed to have already begun to decide that this pastor belonged to the more approachable type.

“Then let us begin today’s lesson.”

As the pastor spoke, he suddenly took the pastoral staff leaning beside the lectern into his hand. Immediately afterward, every apprentice present felt the aether inside the classroom suddenly surge madly toward the white gemstone at the top of the pastoral staff. In the next moment, the aether was instantly twisted into light-attribute magic power, and a white vortex even faintly appeared in midair!

“First lesson!” The pastor raised his voice, making the students focus their attention rather than look away from the shining pastoral staff. “Grow accustomed to this frenzied light element! Holy Spell!”

BANG!

Blinding light shot out from the windows all around the classroom.

***

Theresia raised her head and looked at the bright light streaming in from the small window of the library.

“What are those holy light lunatics from the School of Theology doing now?” she muttered with some curiosity, then lowered her head again and carefully began reading the book in front of her.

This book was a collection of papers, and the core topic discussed by all the papers was a single point: how to use the effect of hot-air expansion to propel a mage forward. Ever since they discovered that steam could serve as a power source, mages had developed a strong interest in this developmental direction of compound magic arrays that could release energy sustainably.

Mages could release enormous amounts of energy in an instant, but if they had to release spells continuously, slowly, and in a steady trickle, that became a painful matter. Add to that the fact that few magic-array inventors in history had ever been diligent, and this type of spell had ended up branching and flourishing to an extraordinary degree.

Theresia had already spent half a day figuring out the history of this developmental path for magic arrays.

And now, she was already reading the most cutting-edge portion of this current spell-development direction.

“How strange.” As Theresia read, questions surfaced in her heart. “Are these really the most advanced papers? Why do I feel like these combinations... are they very simple?”